Mending Together A Broken Heart
by crusader-x
Summary: 6 years has past since the battle with Sephiroth and Tifa now lives in Midgar. Cloud disappeared and has been missing for over 5 years, which has affected Tifa greatly. Can Tifa put her life together? First chapter is a little weak, but does pick up drama
1. Chapter 1 Sharing An Evil Fate

**Mending Together A Broken Heart**

**Disclaimer: All references such as characters belong to SquareEnix. **

Author's Note: Hi everyone. Thanks for having the time to look at this story. It's been in my head for a while and I've finally decided to type it up. This story follows the lives of certain Avalanche members which look into their thoughts and feelings on certain things and events. Mainly focusing around Tifa, the story jumps from different time frames. Rated 'R' for sexual themes in later chapters. Anyway, on with the story. Enjoy!

Chapter 1- Sharing an evil fate

6 years after the fight with Sephiroth....

It was a sunny afternoon in Midgar, birds were chirping and bathing in the warmth of the sun. Tifa could remember that it was only six years ago that people would only dream of seeing anything as much as a glimpse of the outside world, or rather what lied beyond the plates mounted over the city. Much has changed since then, she thought to herself.

She began walking down the main road, looking at the all structures built around her. Since the destruction of Midgar due to the meteor, people began the long and hard construction of a new and better Midgar. A city that would find an alternative source of power to generate electricity. A city that does not separate the poor from the rich. Most of all, a city that is not controlled and dictated from an evil empire.

No, Midgar was now a pleasant city to live in. Only the dedication of people who grew up in Midgar could overcome all the hardships they endured to rebuild such a place. It could be seen on faces as Tifa looked around. People were actually happy and have gone on with their lives, and were not dwelling on the past.

Tifa walked up a few steps and stopped in front of a large framed door. As she began searching through her purse for keys, she again began thinking of all the hardships she endured in her life. First, losing her mother to a sickness that could not be cured even from the greatest of doctors, then losing her father to the hands of great and almighty Sephiroth, murdered or slain to be exact. Then there was Cloud, she cringed at the name, no despised it. Cloud had given her enough heartache and she promised herself to not think about that bastard ever again.... even though it was hard not to.

"Come on lady, I've been waitin' here for ages" A gruff man said, breaking her line of thought. Tifa looked around and saw something stirring in the shadows. A man stood up, about in his sixties and began staggering towards her. She stared at the man with an evil glare, knowing well that most people who knew Tifa Lockheart should not push the patience of the greatest martial arts expert in the world.

"Don't look at me like that! I really don't care if you beat me up. I have nothing to look forward to anyway." The man said. Tifa shook her head and turned towards the door. She took her keys out and unlocked the huge door and stepped inside. Before the man could step inside, Tifa slammed the door shut in the old man's face and locked it.

"Hey! What the fuck! I thought opening time was at nine." The old man screamed at the door.

"Yeah well it's ten to nine so you gotta wait," Tifa replied back to the old man through the door knowing delaying the old man of buying a drink would really tick him off. So much for happy people in Midgar.

Tifa walked towards the back of the bar and went into the kitchen. She passed the kitchen and went into her office. Well it wasn't really a real office because half the room was used as storage room for drinks and on the other half held her desk and a safe. She walked to her safe and opened it. She placed her belongings in the safe, closed it and came back out to the bar.

Looking outside, she saw the old man sitting in front of the door muttering something to himself. Tifa began to smile and wondered if she was maybe a little hard on him.

No, she thought. He was rude and shouldn't have acted the way he did towards her. She made herself a coffee and sat down at one of the stools in front of the bar and waited ever so slowly for the time to pass. Finally finishing her coffee, she got up and put the cup in the sink in the kitchen.

She proceeded towards the door, unlocked it and opened the door, allowing the grumbling old man through.

"See if you were patient, I would have let you in earlier," Tifa said as the old man made his way to the bar.

"Yeah, yeah," was the only response from the old man who didn't want to be penalised again for speaking rough to her.

"So what do ya want?" Tifa asked the old man who was now sitting in the same spot Tifa was earlier and seemed anxious to start his drinking.

"Just make it cold, hard and keep'em comin!" The old man replied while tapping the bar showing exactly where he wanted each drink to be placed.

Tifa began her skilled alcohol mixing and mixed various liquids into a glass. Years of serving customers allowed her to know exactly what a person would like by simply looking at them. Satisfied with what she made, she gave it to the old man.

 "Heeeey! This is really good" The old man screamed as Tifa was taken back from the sudden change of the old man's personality. "No wonder this place is so well known around Midgar. I always thought this place got so much hype coz Avalanche members own it."

"Well, thanks...." Tifa said, still wondering why he credited her for her drink. Well Midgar still seemed to have weirdos around, Tifa thought to herself.

But it was true in a way. Tifa's bar was doing very well in Midgar. It was a popular, if not the most popular bar in Midgar. Situated in the main street of the city, it made it easy for customers to arrive and depart from the bar. Contributing to that was Tifa's well known mixing of alcohols or any drinks for that matter that gave it the extra boost between any of her competitors.

Tifa looked at the old man and smiled. It always made her feel good when someone credited her for her work. She made another drink for the old man, the same as before and gave it to the old man.

"Thanks... and sorry about before. I'm not really the best person to talk to in the morning." The old man said just before he took a gulp of his drink.

Tifa stared at the old man. Not knowing what to say. Sure Tifa had some rude customers every now and then but not one ever apologised for it.

"Yeah I kinda got that feeling," Tifa replied which resulted in the man looking down at his his drink. Tifa looked at the old man, he didn't seem like the rude old man that she met outside the door. ".... but I guess we all can be like that in the morning."

"Yeah you're right... but it seems it's just more frequent with me then for others." The old man said looking back up at her. "I guess I've just been through too much."

Tifa went silent for a moment and looked at the floor. Immediately images of Cloud entered her head. The loneliness she felt all these years were due to one man. It was the man that used to live next door, the man who promised to save her whenever she was in trouble but most of all, the man she fell in love with.

"Haven't we all" Tifa unconsciously said in a whisper.

The man looked at her and didn't say anything. He knew that one who went after Sephiroth and bring down the evil empire of Shinra must have endured many hardships and must have had a reason to do it.

"You must have gone through a lot as well..." The old man said while trying to choose the best words he could think of. "I mean along your journey to fight Sephiroth." The old man said, as he now believed that someone could understand what he's going through.

"Yes I have gone through a lot.... more than you think." Tifa replied as she again began reminiscing on her past. She stared at the old man and remembered what the old man said to her earlier about not looking forward to anything. She at times felt that way. Actually, many times she thought to herself. So it wasn't only her that this cruel world had chosen to pick on. There were others as well who shared the same evil fate. She continued to look at the old man and began to wonder what happened to him to be a part of it.

"What did you mean by not looking forward to anything." Tifa bluntly said to the old man.

The old man uncomfortably readjusted himself on the stool. He stared at his glass with empty eyes, a million thoughts seem to consume him. "You don't wanna know."

Tifa could see that the old man was hurting. But for some reason she wondered even more about the old man. "Please tell me."

The old man stared back up at her. He noticed her dark crimson eyes looking back at him. Why would anyone want to know about a complete stranger? He thought to himself. But he didn't feel like a stranger, he actually felt as if he was talking to a dear old friend. Funny how you can feel comfortable around someone who you've barely known for twenty minutes. Why was that? But it wasn't anything to be concerned about. Tifa has always been known for helping friends when needed. Listening to any problems and giving the best advice she could think of.

The old man looked back down at his glass and slightly chuckled to himself. "It's funny the way your life can be turned upside down within moments. One day it's perfect.... then.... one day it's like a bad dream that goes on for eternity." The smile had by now disappeared from his face and was replaced with a sad and empty one.

"It must have been twenty years ago. I can't be sure coz I've lost count quite a few years ago. My wife, my ten year old daughter and I moved to Midgar from Junon because I had gotten offered to work in a new laboratory that was recently built. I accepted, since the pay and the benefits were very good and it would take care of my family for a while. I was a lab researcher at Shinra under the then newly appointed chief of staff, Professor Hojo. I was in charge of collecting fellow researcher's reports, analysing them and then delivering them to Hojo's desk every night. You see Hojo didn't seem all too bad, he was nice to everyone and we would even go to lunch together sometimes and talk about the research. You could say we were close friends. Things seemed to be going very well for me....." The old man stopped, looked up and swallowed the last of his drink before continuing.

"...But that wasn't the case at all. It was one day, six months after working under Hojo, I arrived at his door to deliver the reports from the fellow researchers. I went to his office and found that it was surprisingly empty. This was strange because Hojo never left his room open and unattended. I decided I would leave the reports on his desk and leave.... but suddenly my stupid curiosity got the better of me and I noticed a blue exercise that seemed very out of place. I scanned around the outside the office and looked around to see if anyone was coming. The coast was clear so I thought it wouldn't hurt to see what was contained in the book. I grabbed it and started reading it." The old man took a deep breath and exhaled deeply, making it clear that to Tifa that he was disturbed by the book's contents. It wasn't a surprise to her, it was Hojo for God's sake!

The old man continued, "This was no ordinary book of normal science junk. This was a disturbing book about Hojo's experiments conducted on humans in horrific circumstances. Men being subjected to amounts of dosages of various chemicals until their body would not take any more. Men were also being exposed to high levels of Mako resulting in mutated bodies and other shocking creations. Even though it was truly shocking to read... something made me go on. Then I saw it, the thing that Hojo would never have wanted anyone to see. It was the most disturbing thing I found in the book. It was a continuous experiment which he wrote about injecting various things into his young son Sephiroth. I mean his own son for crying out loud! But it wasn't only his son he was injecting these so called Jenova cells, he was also injecting them into himself. I couldn't believe a man such as Hojo could do such terrible things. It was very sick and twisted. Hojo didn't seem like a mad scientist, but I guess it isn't until you pull back the curtain that you realise what the person's true colours are."

Tifa listened to the old man and knew the worst was to come. Something bad must have happened to him afterwards. She looked at him, he now had a pained look on his face and was staring blankly at his empty glass. Twirling the cup and seeing the remains of the drink swirling around in a circular motion seemed to have the old man mesmerised.

She seemed to have read the old man's thoughts and made him another drink. Putting the glass in front of him the old man snapped out of his mesmerized state and returned a quiet "thank you".

Tifa wanted to know what happened. Actually, her mind demanded it. He couldn't just tell the whole story and leave the ending out. So she urged him to continue. "So did Hojo ever find out that you read his book?"

The old man who had now drunk half of the other drink Tifa gave him just totally froze. He took the glass from his lips and brought it back to the bar. He closed his eyes and took another deep breath, this time a lot more shakier then the other one. Tifa could tell that the old man didn't speak of his past much to anyone because he didn't seem too comfortable talking about it. Still closing his eyes, he continued.

"When I finished reading the book, I placed the book down next to the reports and left. I knew that after reading Professor Hojo's private book, I could no longer work for a mad man. I mean no one in their right mind would work for a crazy fucker as him. So a few days later I resigned and left the Shinra company. I felt relieved that I wasn't mixed up in all the crazy things that were happening in there. I knew it would be tough without work but I thought there might be other labs around Midgar that needed a high level scientist as myself. But that thought was short lived. A few days after my resignation, Hojo called me at home. He asked me why I had resigned and if anything had troubled me. But I told him I resigned because the pressure and long hours at work was too much for me and it was keeping me from spending time with my family. He didn't say anything after that and we exchanged our good byes and that was that... so I thought anyway."

The old man took another deep breath before continuing. "Hojo was an incredibly smart man and was very suspicious of me. A man does not work at the finest Shinra labs and then resigns, it's every scientists dream to work there. So he did a bit of investigating on me, but he didn't find anything out of the ordinary. I'm only guessing that he remembered that I was the only researcher allowed in his office and that I may have seen something that I shouldn't have. What I didn't know is that Hojo's office had a secret security camera and only high level personall such as Hojo could view it. Hojo, I guess, wasted no time and checked the security tape of my final days working there. Hojo must have remembered the day he forgot to lock the door behind him and checked that day's security tape. The next thing I knew, a few hours from the last phone call with Hojo, I got another one from him. This time he demanded if I had been in his office while he wasn't there and read anything that was lying around. That was when I panicked and told him I only dropped off the researchers reports on his desk and left. Hojo didn't say anything for a while and in a very disturbing voice told me to visit him at the office immediately. Now I knew I was sprung and I told him that I had to go and slammed the phone on him. Panicking, I told my wife and daughter to start packing and that they had only fifteen minutes to grab as much as they could before we had to leave. They were so scared, I mean they didn't know what was going on."

Suddenly a tear came out of the old man's eye. This was very hard for him, it was actually the first time he had ever told someone about the events that happened in his life. Opening his eyes, he looked at Tifa and could see that Tifa felt a bit of his pain. He closed his eyes and continued once again in an even more shaky voice.

 "They didn't question anything and began packing stuff together. I decided the best way out of Midgar would to drive out, since Midgar was known for it's high level security transportation, I took my car and went to the local store for supplies. I wasn't very long, probably about fifteen minutes at the most. I grabbed the supplies and ran to the car. Then, as I was returning to the house, that's when it happened...." The old man crossed his arms on the bar and buried his face within them. Tifa didn't know what was happening until she heard the old man sobbing underneath his arms and knew the worst. It seems one of her deceased friends had also shared in a similar fate as the old man's family. She came from around the bar and layed a hand on the old man's back trying to sooth the old man's hurt. But it was suddenly replaced with the old man jerking his head up and screaming. "HE KILLED THEM TIFA! THAT FRIGGIN LUNATIC KILLED THEM!" The old man still sobbing continued his story. "It was an explosion, I guess it was meant for me and whoever was with me at the time. I saw my house levelled and there was nothing I could do about it. Nothing...... it was meant for me....." The old man covered his face with his hands and cried. Years of anger and grief were finally coming out of the old man. He was reminded repeatedly of this event every single day, played back in his mind as if it happened only moments ago.

Tifa knew the best thing to do was to just try and calm the old man down since she knew that nothing she could say would make him feel any better. She patted him lightly on the back and told him it's ok to cry and that there was nothing he could have done to stop it.

"You know what the weird thing was, when I heard Avalanche were responsible for the death of Professor Hojo... I would... I would have loved to have been there. Just so I could watch that son of a bitch get what he finally deserved. For all the trauma he put me through... but not only me, for everyone else's lives that he destroyed." The old man said while looking up at Tifa through teary eyes.

The old man inhaled and then exhaled a deep breath of air. It didn't make him feel all to better talking about his past to Tifa, but it he felt better that someone could understand his hurt.

He then brought his sleeve to his face and wiped his eyes. He really didn't want to think about it anymore. He readjusted himself on the seat and tried his best to regain composure.

"Are you gonna be ok?" Tifa found herself asking the old man. She looked at him, he didn't seem to upset as he did a few moments ago. Then again, men are always good at hiding their thoughts as she began thinking of the way Cloud was.

"I'll be ok." The old man said trying to be as convincing as he could be.

Tifa knew better. The old man may try to hide it but it seems the old man feels this pain of every minute of his life. Again Tifa thought the best thing to do is just to leave the old man alone and not push.

She went back around the bar and began to make another drink for the old man, but before she could, the old man put his hand over the glass and said, "No more for me. I think I've had enough."

Tifa put the bottle down and seemed surprised. She thought he was going to get beyond a stable state after telling her earlier that he wanted a lot to drink.

"Drinking doesn't solve anything you know." Tifa found herself saying to the old man.

The old man looked at her directly into her eyes. He knew that drinking had no way of sorting his problems. It could not change the past. But if it did allow him to escape and forget the past for a short period, he would take it. It may not be much for some, but it was a lot for him.

"I know it doesn't solve anything, but it allows me to forget... for a while." He looked down at the bar for a moment, staring as if he was hypnotized. A few seconds past before he shot his head back up and said, "Why are we still talking about me? What has made your life hard to live with? I mean Avalanche are heroes, you should be happy."

This time it was Tifa who looked down at the bar. Not many knew about her life that much. The only people that did know were the group of Avalanche members and besides, not all of them knew everything. She sighed and leaned her elbows on the bar.

"It's nothing, really!" Tifa replied after a long delay before answering.

"Oh come on, don't give me that! Listen, I just told someone I barely know something very painful and it would help me if you tell me about yourself. I'm not a reporter or anything so don't worry if you think I'm talking crap just to get a story out of you." The old man looked frustrated as he said these words.

"I know your not..." Tifa feeling a little offended that the old man would think she would accuse him of being a liar. "It's just that I don't know where to begin from."

"How about from the beginning? That's usually a good start." The old man said as sincere as he could.

Tifa stood and stared at the old man, as if decided whether she should say anything or not. A few moments passed before she made her decision and sat on the stool next to the old man.

With a deep breath she began. She told him about the tragic death of her mother and how that effected her childhood. She then told him about the visit of Sephiroth and how his destruction of the town left her almost dead, without a father and homeless. She also told him of the hardships of growing up in the slums of Midgar and losing her good friends in the plate collapse. The final thing she told him was the loss of her close friend Aeris, the cetra who gave up her life to save the earth from destruction.

While being told all of these what seemed hurtful events, the old man seemed to wonder why she remained so calm telling him this. "Can I ask you something Tifa?"

Tifa made a pondering look and said, "Yeah, what is it?"

"Why are you so calm about these things? Don't you feel angry?" The old man said with a questionly look.

Tifa thought for a few moments. "It's not that I don't feel angry, I mean it does still hurt and I do think about it a lot.... but I have been able to move on with these events that have happened to me and I have learned that I can not change the past. So the best thing to do is to live on, the best I can."

The old man went very quiet. 'Live on,' what could she mean by that. I have nothing. My family is gone, I haven't even seen my friends in over twenty years... there is nothing I have.

Tifa saw that the old man was thinking of the words she just told him. She got up and walked behind the bar. She glanced at her watch and saw that they had been talking for well over an hour. But it didn't matter the mornings were pretty quiet anyway.

Suddenly the old man snapped out of his quiet state and seemed a little more cheerful. "That's enough of sad talk. Tell me about what you saw on your travels. Oh and tell me how was it to know the great Cloud Strife?"

Tifa quickly turned around and raised her hand over her face. She began breathing a lot heavier and slightly shook. Everyone did believe Cloud was the planet's saviour of destruction and saw him as a hero. The other Avalanche members also received recognition but not as much as Cloud since he defeated the great Sephiroth on more than one occasion. Tifa's hand clenched tightly at the thought of Cloud.

The old man stared with his eyes wide open. He didn't know this would happen. He thought of why she would get so upset... then it hit him. She must have cared about him far deeper then he thought. He disappeared over five years ago and no one has heard from him since.

Tifa began sobbing quietly. She hadn't done that in quite a while. It was so long ago, why does it still hurt? She has moved on with everything else, why can't she move on with this?

The old man didn't know exactly what to say. "Are you okay Tifa?"

Tifa turned around through teary eyes and gave a forced smile. "I'm fine."

Tifa wiped her tears away with her hands and a silence went between her and the old man. Tifa couldn't believe she would get upset even though she promised herself she wouldn't.

"You loved him didn't you?" The old man said, breaking the silence.

Tifa looked at him. The old man was staring back at her and seemed eager for a response. This was really hard for her to say. She has never told anyone even though other Avalanche members may have known all along.

She saw herself as a loser and didn't want anyone to know that she loved the great Cloud Strife and never told him how she felt in all the years she knew him. Yet it didn't really matter anymore anyway.

Tifa continued staring at the old man. Once again questioning herself on the thought of whether to tell the old man anything or not.

"Yes I did.... very much....." Tifa found herself saying unconsciously to the old man. She actually surprised herself that she let it out.

"You never got to tell him?" The old man asked.

"No I didn't." Tifa said simply. "I guess there wasn't a right time... and when there was, he left without giving me a chance to."

The old man seemed apologetic. "I'm sorry"

"It's okay. It doesn't bother me that much anymore," Tifa lied.

The old man knew she was lying but didn't say anything. This was something he knew that should not be pushed.

All of a sudden a stomping came from outside. The sounds of someone coming up the stairs could now be heard and suddenly a man burst through the door.

"Hey Tifa, I'm here."

Author's note: So who could it be? Is it Cloud? Stay tuned for the next chapter.

Also, I wanted this story to show that people other than Avalanche members were affected by Shinra's reign. Don't worry, I promise it will be the only one and it will mainly focus on other Avalanche members from now on.


	2. Chapter 2 A Glance Into The Past

**Chapter 2 – A Glance Into The Past**

Tifa looked at the sudden intruder with an angry frown. "Where the hell have you been Barett?

Barett stood at the doorway knowing no real explanation will keep him out of trouble. "It was Marlene again. You know how teenage girls can be, have to be all dolled up for school and stuff. So by the time I drove her to school I was already lat..."

"Okay, okay Barett. Just put your stuff in the back and come out here."

Barrett's eyes bulged in surprise. Tifa usually went off her head at him for hours and make him do all the shitty jobs. With a sigh of relief, Barett did what he was told and went to the back to put away his coat and keys.

Turning her attention back to the old man, she gave a slight smile. "I'm sorry about that."

"No don't be. Besides I should be on my way. I have things to do and places to be. So anyway, how much do I owe you?"

"Ummmm... around 20 gil, but don't worry, it's on the house."

The old man chuckled slightly to himself. He couldn't believe the kindness of a woman who he met only hours before.

The old man dug into his pocket to reveal his wallet. He took 20 gil out and left it on the counter. "Thanks Tifa, but if you were this nice to every stranger that walked through the door, you wouldn't be doing any business at all."

And with that, he turned around and proceeded towards the door.

Tifa suddenly remembered that she didn't even ask the old man his name. "Hey! I didn't get your name."

The old man suddenly stopped and turned around. He smiled at Tifa and stood at door for a brief moment before answering. "It's not important Tifa because I highly doubt we will meet again. But I would like to thank you for everything. You have made me realise things that I should have realised a long time ago. Thank you once again. Goodbye Tifa."

The old man turned around again and went outside. He stopped and looked around the surroundings and felt that something felt different. How did someone make him realise things so quickly? With a deep sigh, he closed his eyes and took in this new feeling.

Meanwhile Barett was slowly making his way to face Tifa at the front. He knew Tifa to well to know that he did get off too easy before. He walked up to Tifa and stood behind her and began to think. 'One, two, three, four, five... here it comes.'

Tifa spun around and began her chewing out on Barett. "How many times have we had this talk Barett? You know when we agreed to be partners with this bar, I expect you to approach it in a professional way. Like today, first you come late, then you come rushing into the bar like a drunken hooligan, then you scare away my customers and then you...

Hearing the arguing from inside the bar, the old man went near the window and peered inside. He saw Barett standing next to Tifa with his head down and what seemed like receiving an earful. The old man smirked as he wouldn't want to be in Barett's position at all. The old man thought of his old friends and the fun they had when they were younger. 'You have good friends Tifa. I think it's time for me to see my own. Thank you and goodbye.' With his final thought he turned around and began walking down the main road in Midgar. He still didn't think he had anything to look for in life, yet maybe with his remaining years on the planet, he may as well try to make the most of it. And just like that, he was now a man on a mission and his first stop would be Junon. And just as he told Tifa, the man never returned to Midgar ever again.

Later that evening...

There was an hour left until the bar closed and Tifa was feeling exhausted. It was a particularly busy night for a week day and it was dragging every minute that went by. She looked into the kitchen and saw the glasses piled up. She rolled her eyes and growled to herself. This really wasn't the night she intended to have.

Barett noticed her exhaustion and quickly walked to her side. "Go home Tifa, I'll finish and close up the bar."

Tifa turned to argue but realised that she really was exhausted and she really did need some sleep. She turned around and went to the store room to gather her things. She came back to the bar and noticed that Barett now was starting to clean up. "Barett, are you sure I should go?"

Barett stopped wiping down a table and gave Tifa a smile. "Please, go home and get some rest. Seriously, I'll be ok."

Tifa as she is, felt guilty for leaving Barett. Yet her body and mind ached to catch up on much needed rest. Tifa reluctantly made her way to the door but before leaving she was stopped by a shout from Barett. "If you wanna come over for dinner, come in about an hour. Marlene should let you in, if I'm not home by then."

Tifa wasn't in the mood of eating. "Thanks Barett but I think I'll go straight to bed."

Barett nodded and replied, "Ok, have a good night. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight Barett."

Tifa then proceeded to walk out of the bar and went home.

Barett began thinking when Tifa left the bar. He didn't plan on part-owning a bar after his fight for the planet with Avalanche. His life began straight after Sephiroth's defeat, where he took Marlene back to Corel where he helped rebuild the crumbled city. His role in saving the planet and rebuilding the city earned him the respect of townspeople, as well as what he sees as his greatest achievement, the mayor of Corel. This was a very happy time in his life, as he had his little girl by his side and patched old relationships with the townspeople.

Then, a year after from returning to his hometown, he decided to visit Tifa. He knew Tifa had moved from Nibelheim to Midgar, but for what reason, he did not know. When meeting up with Tifa, he was in shock with the state of his best friend. Tifa was a wreck and seemed to the lack the heart of the cheerful girl he once knew. She looked awfully thin, pale and didn't say hardly anything to him. Barett knew this had to be a Cloud related issue as his friend was extremely close to having a nervous breakdown. Finally asking her what had happened, Tifa broke down crying as she explained what had happened. Barett was furious, he wanted to kill his friend, the spiky haired jerk. Even telling Tifa that he would leave to find him and wring his little neck, but Tifa dismissed Barett's proposal through sobs saying that it wouldn't solve anything. After a few days with Tifa, he realised that it wasn't safe to leave Tifa on her own. As many as they come, Barett was faced with another dilemma in his life. Shall he remain in Corel or should he move to Midgar to help his best friend get back on her feet?

His initial reaction was to have Tifa move to Corel, but Tifa didn't want to saying that Midgar was the next closest thing to home. After hearing Tifa's response Barett had no choice in his view but to move to Midgar. It was a quick decision but he knew he couldn't leave Tifa on her own. Barett didn't see Tifa as his best friend, but as another daughter. Marlene and Tifa were his little girls and he wanted nothing more than to see them happy, even if it did mean leaving Corel. To Barett, family meant more to him than any town ever would.

Without Tifa knowing, he came back to Corel, resigned from his position as mayor, packed his things and left for Midgar. The townspeople were sad as well as angry to see him leave, but in the end were grateful for everything he had done for them and would welcome him back if he ever chose to return. Barett did say he would return one day in the future, but for now, he had personal matters that needed to be sorted out. When arriving back to Midgar, as Barett expected, Tifa was shocked to find that he had come back to live their. She felt guilty for making him come but at the same time she was glad to have a friend close by to talk to. Barett bought a house close by to Tifa and constantly checked up on her to see if she was okay.

After a month, Tifa came up with the idea of opening up a bar and for Barett to become a partner, which he agreed as a great idea. Time went by and to Barett's relief, Tifa was becoming herself again. Sometimes he did see her depressed at times but at least it wasn't as bad as she was when he first visited her. Barett was also glad to see that Marlene had settled into the change and was doing well at school. Tifa's appearance constantly around her has filled the many aspects of mothering that has been missing in Marlene's life. Especially now that she is in her early teens, Barett would rather Tifa handle some issues that may need a female's point of view. Barett was glad that both his little girls were doing well and couldn't be happier that he made the move to Midgar.

With that as his final thought, Barett snapped back into reality and proceeded with his cleaning duties.

Later that night...

Tifa had just finished a quick meal she had prepared for herself and was now going to bed. She really was feeling the exhaustion taking over her body and very much needed some sleep to revitalise herself. She put the plate in the kitchen sink and went to her bedroom. She changed into her pyjamas and jumped into bed. Closing her eyes, she felt her head going in circles and knew it was a sign of overworking herself at the bar. Going deeper into her sleep, she again began thinking of Cloud. Ever since her talk with the old man, it had become a nightly event to think about him even though she wished she wouldn't. It wasn't as if she didn't think of Cloud from time to time, but it was coming far too frequent now. 'No, not tonight,' she thought and began her deep slumber.

**Flashback**

It was a beautiful day in Nibelheim. The sun entered Tifa's room as a blinding light and woke the sleeping beauty from her slumber. Tifa yawned and stretched realising that it was time to get out of bed. It had now been three months since the defeat of Sephiroth and Tifa and Cloud had decided to live in Nibelheim as it was the only place they could call home. She began her daily routine where she changed into her favourite skirt and tank top, then go next door to get Cloud for breakfast.

As she opened her door, she was shocked to see Cloud sitting on the well, arms stretched behind his back and his legs dangling over the wooden plank. He gave Tifa a cocky grin before laughing to himself.

Tifa could only laugh herself before adding, "Oh my God Cloud, could this be true that you have woken up early all by yourself. Usually I need to drag your spiky head out of bed and listen to all your complaints."

Cloud's grin only became wider. "Who? Me? Nah! You must be thinking of someone else... and besides look at how nice it is today."

Tifa took a step outside the door and couldn't help but agree with Cloud. It hadn't been like this for a while, since it had been cloudy and windy for the past couple of weeks. She walked towards Cloud and took a seat next to her childhood friend.

Tifa looked at Cloud and was still surprised that he was up this early. "So if you woke up so early, why didn't you come and wake me up?"

Cloud turned his head to Tifa with the same cocky grin and said, "Who's to say I didn't?"

Tifa frowned at his last comment because she didn't remember Cloud trying to wake her up. "No you didn't Cloud. I don't remember you waking me up... and what's up with the big grin on your face?

Cloud laughed again to himself before adding, "I just feel happy I guess and I did come inside to wake you up. But when I saw you sleeping, I wouldn't dare wake up sleeping beauty... plus you were drooling all over the pillow... it was pretty gross."

Tifa instantaneously gave Cloud a hard punch in the arm with a big smile on her face. "Shut up Cloud! You're such a fucking liar." Tifa began to think and became paranoid. "I don't drool... do I?"

Cloud continued staring at Tifa and at the same time rubbing his throbbing arm. Boy does this girl know how throw a mean punch. Even though it hurt like hell, his cocky expression never left his face. "Honestly Tifa, no you don't. I'm just kidding around."

'That's a relief' Tifa thought to herself. She then noticed that Cloud slipped down onto the ground and stood in front of her. "But you know Tifa, I did find something that amused me when I went into your bedroom."

Tifa's mind and heart began racing. 'Oh my God, I didn't say anything in my sleep did I?' Tifa pondered and waited eagerly for Cloud's next words.

The words never came except that Cloud reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and revealed an item to Tifa.

Tifa could only look in shock before going very red in the face. For in front of her dangling in Cloud's hands were a pair of her panties she kept in her room. Realising how embarrassing this was, she took a swipe for her panties while yelling, "Cloud you little perve, give that back!"

But before Tifa could reach, he yanked his hand back away from her reach and started to retreat, taking small steps backwards. "Uh, uh, uh. Finders, keepers."

This comment only infuriated Tifa. She slipped off the wooden plank and walked towards Cloud, matching his retreating steps. "Cloud, you didn't find them, you stole them. Now please return them to me or else I'm gonna have to hurt you."

Cloud didn't flinch at Tifa's threats but rather tucked the panties back in the inside pocket of his jacket, then patted it. "Sorry Tifa but they are quite comfortable where they are." Cloud then began laughing hysterically.

Tifa eyes opened up wide at Cloud's refusal to give her clothing back. "You're so dead." With saying that, she ran towards him.

Cloud's reaction was instantaneous when realising that Tifa was after him. He took off down the road and out of Nibelheim. Running into the open field, Cloud quickly realised that this was a bad decision he took. Cloud may have the upper hand in strength when it came fighting... but when it came to agility, Tifa was far more nimble than him. Nevertheless, he continued his marathon run across the field laughing his head off which infuriated Tifa only more. She quickened her pace and was gaining a lot of ground. When finally only a few steps behind him, she took a desperate lunge at the mighty hero and tackled him to the ground. Due to the momentum of the impact, they both rolled over each other for several meters until they finally came to a halt.

Tifa quickly got up and flipped Cloud onto his back. She placed one leg on one side of Cloud's chest and one on the other and kneeled down so she had both knees on each of his arms to restrict his movement, as well as hurting him at the same time. Seeing that Cloud was breathing heavily and completely helpless, she reached into his pocket and retrieved her item of clothing. She placed it on her side between her skirt and her hip and brought her attention back to Cloud.

Tifa was baffled at Cloud's actions and his sudden interest in playing harsh jokes on her again. This hadn't happened since the night at the Golden Saucer and she was glad that Cloud was happy and laughing.

Seeing that Cloud was still laughing, Tifa saw this as an opportunity to teach him a lesson. She dug her knees deeper into his arm which resulted in Cloud still laughing but wincing every so often. Seeing that this was not doing enough, she placed a hand on Cloud's inner shoulder and placed a thumb on his collar bone. Cloud realised what she was doing and fear quickly replaced his smug expression knowing full well of Tifa's martial arts knowledge of the human body. "No! Tifa! Please don't!"

Now seeing the fear in Cloud's eyes brought a cocky smirk on Tifa's face. "Well Cloud you should've been a good boy and not taken a personal item that's not yours."

She applied pressure onto Cloud's collar bone and watched as Cloud began wincing and attempting to squirm his way free. Tifa felt victorious and held a huge grin while applying more pressure onto his collar which resulted in Cloud screaming in pain and yelling various swear words to overcome the agonising pain. "Now, now, Cloud, fighting and screaming only makes it worse for you."

Cloud couldn't move and the pain started to become unbearable. Cloud sightly lifted his head off the ground and looked for any way out of the torture. It then suddenly occurred to him of the position he was on the ground. "You know Tifa... owww... I didn't know... owwwww... that you are wearing... ouchhhhh!... pink undies today."

Tifa's eyes went extremely wide in shock before closing her legs together with her kneeling upright and her knees resting on Cloud's chest. "Cloud! You little shit!" She raised her hand to give Cloud a slap across his face.

Realising he had gotten his arms free, Cloud blocked the slap, grabbed her arms and flipped her onto the ground. He lied on top of her and pinned her arms down. Tifa couldn't do nothing but stare into Cloud's face which was inches away from her own and acknowledge defeat.

Cloud also had no where to turn and could only stare back at Tifa. No words were exchanged between the two, which made Tifa a little paranoid in why Cloud was just staring at her. He released his grip on Tifa's arm and brushed away hair that had fallen over her face. Cloud placed his hand on the grass next to her and continued his gaze. Was this the way two friends can act with each other? Tifa was about to question Cloud but was beaten by him unexpectedly saying "Your extremely beautiful you know that Tifa Lockheart?"

Tifa's heart began to race faster. Was Cloud flirting with her? Her face slightly became a little redder as she was extremely embarrassed. But there was no where to turn but to stare into his eyes. Cloud began to lower his face towards Tifa's face very slowly. As he did so, his chest applied pressure to Tifa's breasts which made her unexpectedly a little excited and resulted in her breathing a little quicker.

Tifa couldn't believe this was happening. The man she was completely lost in love with was about to give her a first kiss. She closed her eyes and slightly parted her mouth, waiting in anticipation for his descending lips.

The kiss came but it wasn't as Tifa expected. She felt a light pressure on her nose and opened her eyes in surprise. It was a game they had started since coming to Nibelheim where they would kiss and suck the tip of each other's noses which they both found annoying and thus the point of doing it to each other.

After realising what Cloud was doing, Tifa tried to break free and began struggling under the body of her friend. It was Tifa's turn to scream obscurities at Cloud which she did so while trying to free herself from this playful torture. "Cloud, you ass! Get off me!"

Cloud pretended not to hear her screams for freedom and applied more pressure onto her nose. Tifa became a little more infuriated with his reluctance to comply with her demand and began struggling even more under him. Tifa finally gathered all her energy and pushed him off her.

With Cloud now on her side, he continued his hysterical laugh. This went on until he realised that Tifa was not laughing anymore but she was just staring at the sky. "Tifa?"

Now sitting up on the ground with her hands behind her back holding her up, Tifa pretended to be angry with Cloud, by putting on a serious face and turning her head away from him.

With no response from Tifa, Cloud began to worry that maybe he indeed angered her and maybe took the joke too far. He got up from the ground and walked over to Tifa. He squatted down next to Tifa who continued to look away. "Tifa, please talk to me."

Again with no response from Tifa, Cloud began to worry since it was not his intention to make Tifa upset. Still looking away, Tifa was trying to hold a straight face. Her hair covered the side of her face which allowed Tifa to hide her expression from Cloud.

Cloud began to think of how to get Tifa to talk to him again. A few minutes past and Cloud still had no idea what to do. Thinking, thinking…. then suddenly he had an idea.

"Hey Tifa! Remember that time when Cid cursed so hard that he forgot he had a cigarette in his mouth and swallowed it. Hehehe… and the doctor told him he couldn't talk or smoke for days. Man was he pissed!"

Tifa held it together the best she could… until she remembered Cid using a dozen nicotine patches at a time and writing on a notepad to communicate. Every time he scribbled something down, everyone pretended they couldn't read what he wrote. Barett was the worst than any of the members of Avalanche. Every time Cid wrote something for Barett, Barett would say he couldn't read it because of Cid's bad literacy skills. "Come on old chimney, give me something I can read. Hang on, I got an idea. Write over your sentences with a crayon and I'll take it to Marlene so she can translate it for me. Okay?" Cid would then become infuriated and start jumping up and down in anger and kick things around the Highwind… as well as kicking the Highwind flight members in the butt.

It was a rare moment in their journey to have a laugh like that. Hell it even made Vincent crack a wide grin.

With all the memories flooding back into her mind, she broke out into a highly contagious laugh which now resulted in Cloud laughing a lot harder. They continued to laugh for a few minutes until they both settled down. "See Tifa, you can't stay angry at me."

Tifa rolled her eyes and waved her hand in front of her face. "Yes Cloud, I can't stay angry at you," Tifa said with a voice of sarcasm.

Cloud smirked at Tifa's response. He got up and held out his hand in front of Tifa. 'Come on, let's go eat breakfast."

Tifa looked up at Cloud with a frowned expression. "Hmph! You would be lucky to get breakfast after pulling a stunt like that on me."

It wasn't a surprise to Cloud that Tifa responded the way she did. Actually he was expecting to get more of an ass whipping but he would take what he gets.

"Actually, as punishment, you have to carry me all the way back to the village. That sounds fair since you made me come all the way out here Cloud," Tifa said.

This was really nothing for Cloud but he thought he could get one last rise out of Tifa before he agreed to comply with her demand. Cloud began groaning and exaggerated the offer Tifa gave him. "Aww man! That's a fair walk for a man to carry a woman and since our journey, we haven't done much training, well you haven't anyway, so you've become a lot more heavier…."

Cloud could see that Tifa's hands were now clenched knowing full well stealing certain items of clothing from a woman, costs a bruising… now teasing a girl's weight issue… expect to be hospitalised. Especially Tifa, Cloud would consider that lucky so he was quick to change his mind in getting a rise out of Tifa.

"…hey, hey… just kidding Tifa! Ummm, yeah sure, sounds like a deal." Nervous as Cloud was now, he quickly scooped Tifa up from the waist and behind her knees, and began walking back to Nibelheim.

After a few minutes, Cloud was relieved to see that Tifa's hands had now relaxed where one hand was behind his back and the other resting on his chest. It was funny to see Tifa like this. He hadn't held her in his arms like this since… since… he cursed at himself mentally to not bring up the event.

Cloud tightened his grip around Tifa and brought her closer to her chest almost in a protective manner. Realising the sudden change, Tifa looked up at Cloud to see if he was okay. "Cloud… are you alright?"

Now Cloud realising what he done, released his grip to the way it was before. "Sorry Tifa, I didn't release how tight I was holding you."

Tifa was quick to respond saying, "No, no, no. It didn't hurt, it just seemed you were a million miles away in space… that's all."

Cloud looked down at Tifa. He replaced his empty expression with bright smile which seemed to make Tifa feel a whole lot better. "Trust me, I'm fine."

Happy with Cloud's response, Tifa snuggled her head closer to Cloud's chest, sensing his heart beat. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the closeness between them. Many girls around the world would die of envy if they saw the world's greatest hero carrying her in his arms. Tifa smiled to herself realising that Cloud was indeed her hero. The hero that would save her whenever she would be in trouble… the very promise she made Cloud say when they were younger.

A few minutes of silence went between the two, which gave Cloud the time to think and be astonished at how far out they ran out of town. He took a quick glance at Tifa and smiled to himself. She appeared to have her eyes closed and be deep in thought with a sheepish grin on her face. If only he could find a way to know what she was thinking about?

Still looking down at Tifa, he noticed how comfortable he was carrying Tifa around. Staring at her face, a cold wave of prickles seemed to surface over his body. He wasn't lying when he told her that she was beautiful… because he had always thought that ever since he was a child.

His eyes then trailed lower towards her chest and again his body was hit with another cold wave. He did feel guilty for looking at Tifa, but he was a man and still held normal human instincts. His mind wondered off into fantasy where he imagined how Tifa would look underneath her clothing.

Suddenly Tifa stirred in his arms with a comfortable sigh. Cloud quickly averted his eyes straight ahead hoping Tifa didn't open her eyes and catch him in the act. Luckily for him, she didn't. His grin went wider in a 'got a good perve and not get caught' sort of way.

Feeling quite cocky again he thought he might be able to stir up Tifa once again. "Hey Tifa!"

Tifa stirred again, almost as much as if she were in bed. She opened her eyes and responded in a quiet response. "Yeah Cloud?"

Cloud looked down at her again with a cocky grin, which Tifa instantaneously knew he was gonna say something totally unnecessary. "I hope your not sleeping down there. This is kinda a new t-shirt and I really don't want it all wet after seeing how you sleep today."

Tifa's eye twitched in anger and then punched him hard on the chest with her free arm. "You're such a fucking ass Cloud. You always say something to ruin a comfortable moment. Plus you said I don't drool. What happened to the old generous and genuine Cloud huh? Now you're just cracking wise ass jokes and not considering anyone's feelings! From time to time it's okay to crack a joke, but lately you're just…."

Cloud looked ahead and started to think to himself. 'Good one Cloud. Look what you started you dick! Now you got Tifa rambling and she's not gonna stop till we get to town which is... Oh God! It's friggin another 10 minutes away.'

Cloud stopped walking and looked down at Tifa who was still talking and waving her hand everywhere making a more dramatic effect. "…back on our journey you hardly said a word. Now look at you. You're treating everything…"

There was no way Cloud could get Tifa to stop. 'You really ate stupid pills for breakfast didn't you Cloud. Tifa's not gonna stop till she's made her point very clear to you.'

These jokes had been enough for Tifa. It was far too many even for Cloud. "…so what tomorrow? You're gonna scare me while I'm sleeping or put salt in my drink or…"

Then suddenly, even surprising himself, he raised Tifa's body so that her face was right in front of him and kissed her.

Tifa's eyes bulged and immediately her heart begun racing. If anything today, or rather for next five years, she was not expecting this. Still bewildered, she continued the kiss the man of her dreams had planted on her.

Five or six seconds past before Cloud realised what he had done. He was certainly surprised at himself for doing something like this. 'What are you doing to your childhood friend Cloud! You're gonna scare the poor girl!'

He slowly broke of the kiss and slowly began receded his head back. But before he could pull his head back fully back, Tifa brought both her arms around Cloud's neck and forcefully pulled him back down till their lips met again.

This time Tifa took the initiative and made a more passionate kiss. She parted his lips with her tongue and placed it inside his mouth, which Cloud willingly accepted. She began exploring his mouth and gently massaged his tongue with her own.

Cloud now catching on, returned Tifa the favour and began massaging her tongue with his own as well as sucking her tongue in a continuous movement. This was a first kiss for both of them, yet everything felt so natural and so… right. They gave each other time to take the lead in the everlasting kiss which included occasional soft moans by Tifa and low grunts from Cloud. The kiss was ever so becoming more and more passionate, which to any bystanders would consider two people trying to devour each other.

Eternity seemed to pass until they both decided to break the kiss for a bigger intake of air. Their lips broke apart with a loud smack which concluded the fact that all good things must come to an end.

Both of them were breathing heavily yet neither spoke a word to each other. Looking at each other brought a bright shade of redness on both of their faces, resulting in Cloud quickly lowering Tifa to the way he was holding her before and Tifa repositioned her hands as she had them before. Tifa buried her head into Cloud's chest trying to hide the immense amount of embarrassment she had. Cloud reacted in taking very shaky first few steps as he looked onwards and walked towards the town.

Another few minutes past and neither said a word to each other since the incident. They both seemed to be in a trance and reflecting on the unforgettable kiss. Yet it was Tifa who seemed to have something on her mind to say to Cloud.

Bringing her face out into the open again, Tifa found herself asking Cloud the thing that seemed to have her thinking deeply. "Cloud?"

He took a look at her and saw that she hadn't looked up at him. He inwardly hoping she wouldn't want to talk about the kiss. "Yeah Tifa?"

This was going to be hard for Tifa. "Can you promise me something?"

Cloud now totally relieved it wasn't anything about the kiss, but at the same time, eagerly wanting to know what she wanted him to promise. "Ummm… it depends on what it is Tifa."

"Well…ummm…" Tifa did not know how to say it to Cloud. With all her might, she encouraged herself to spit it out. This time she looked up at him and said what was on her mind. "Cloud… I want you to promise me…"

Tifa took a deep breath and continued. "I want you to promise me that we will always be friends no matter what happens and that you will always be nearby when I need you."

This was very unexpected for Cloud. He didn't know exactly the right words to say to Tifa, but he was happy that someone such as Tifa wanted someone as himself close by to her and consider him a friend for life.

He looked down holding a happy smile on his face. "I promise Tifa, you can always depend on me."

Tifa extremely happy with Cloud's response, gave him a quick hug before snuggling closer to his body. She could not get the events that happened over the morning, which she concluded as the most happiest day in her life so far. She had her hero carry her back to town, then an unforgettable kiss with him, then a promise that he'll always be there for her. Tifa closed her eyes and began thinking up a dreamy fantasy involving her and her hero.

Cloud on the other hand seemed quite disturbed. Oblivious to Tifa was the fact of Cloud's sudden mood change. With a frown, Cloud was deep in thought. "What's that Cloud? You're up to three promises now and you have failed every single one up till now. What makes you think your gonna be able to hold this one? Your just gonna screw it up somehow and lose someone dear to you, like your… father… your mother… Zack… Aeris… starting to ring any bells Cloud? It would be best if you just save this poor girl from the bad luck you bring and leave her in peace. You're an idiot Cloud… an idiot….

Lightly shaking his head, they continued their journey back to town in silence. The only difference being that Tifa was thinking of pleasurable fantasies, while Cloud was battling mind demons.

**End Flashback**

With a high gasp, Tifa woke up very suddenly realising that she had been dreaming of her past. Tears began descending off her face and dampening her pillow. These times were the happiest Tifa had ever had and yet it still pained her to think of them. She wished she had never fallen in love with Cloud, but convincing her heart otherwise was futile.

Tears increasing began to fall freely onto her pillow as she wondered what had she done to deserve to feel all this anguish. Tifa closed her eyes and in the smallest of whispers revealed the reason for her sudden outbreak of tears. "Why did you leave me Cloud? Just tell me... why?"

**Author's Note:** Hmm… I've enjoyed writing this chapter but I really thought it was never gonna end. Next chapter is the return of Cloud. How will Tifa handle it? R & R.


	3. Chapter 3 The Return Of The King

**Chapter 3 – The Return Of The King**

**3 weeks later…**

It was morning and Tifa was getting ready for work. She ate breakfast and changed into her clothes ready for the new day to progress. Since that disturbing night of her dream, Tifa tried to keep her mind preoccupied with other things that she saw as more important than dwelling on the past. Was thinking about it gonna change anything? 'No it wasn't,' she kept telling herself over the weeks.

She had been going over to Barett's house more often lately, visiting Marlene and gossiping on the new things that have happened in Marlene's life. Little to Barett's knowledge was Marlene's interest in boys was growing and talking to Tifa about it, made things a whole lot easier for her. Tifa enjoyed talking to Marlene, it reminded of how she was younger and how boys would ask her out, since she was told repeatedly that she was the prettiest girl in town. She apologetically let them down gently telling them she wasn't interested… but little did they know she had the hugest crush on the blond spiky haired outcast boy that everyone picked on and didn't like.

Yes Marlene was growing up and Tifa held a closeness with Marlene now almost as if of an older sister status. Hanging out at Barett's kept her mind busy and restricted her from thinking too much. This was good for Tifa because it allowed her to have a more peaceful sleep, which her body had been begging for weeks.

Snapping back to reality, Tifa grabbed her purse and left for work. Walking down the street, Tifa began humming a tune that her mother used to sing to her when she was younger. She was happier now that she was slowly letting go of the past again that had been ignited recently, and was looking forward to what fate will bring her in the future.

Getting to the door, she was surprised to see that it was already opened and Barett had already started preparations for the day. She walked inside to see Barett placing a crate of washed glasses behind the bar. "Three days in a row you've come in earlier than me. I think that's a record for you," Tifa said with a small laugh escaping from her mouth.

Barett turned to her and smiled. "Well hello to you too Tifa. You seem a lot happier today."

Tifa thought for a moment before answering. "Why wouldn't I be? It's the start of a new day and business is good. I have a great reason to be."

Barett shrugged his shoulders thinking maybe Tifa had consumed drugs before coming in because she was never this happy, especially in the morning. "Well you know best."

Barett turned and walked back into the kitchen to grab another crate of glasses. He retuned and noticed that Tifa was making a coffee. "Do you want a coffee Barett?"

"Yeah, sure" Barett replied.

It was a routine for Tifa to have a coffee when coming to work. Now that Barett was coming earlier, they were able to sit and talk without being disrupted. Tifa filled the cups and placed them down on a table in front of the bar.

Barett stopped his duties and took a seat at the table with Tifa. He took a sip of his coffee before looking up at Tifa. "So, how are the dreams about Cloud been lately?"

Tifa cringed at his name being brought up so openly. She told Barett about the dreams she had a few weeks ago since he was the only person she felt comfortable talking to about them. "Thanks Barett! I really didn't want to think about that… but they've been fine. I haven't dreamt of him lately.

Barett instantly felt a prang of guilt when hearing her response. "I'm sorry Tifa… I didn't mean to bring it up."

Tifa waved her hands in front of body. "No, don't be. I have to learn to talk about it if I'm ever going to get over it. It's been…"

Tifa took a deep breath before continuing. "It's been far too long anyway Barett."

A rare but large smile filled the large man's face. He was happy that Tifa was accepting the past and was willing to get her life back on track. He knew it did take time for someone to get over the love of your life, it's something a lot of people go through. It took Barett alone many years to recover from the loss of his wife, yet for Tifa, her love may still be anywhere amongst the living. He personally hoped Tifa meant the words she said because it really was the true way to recovery… or rather as he saw it as, mending together a broken heart.

"I'm very happy to hear that Tifa." Barett responded.

They both fell silent as they took another sip of their coffee. Barett chose not to take the subject any further for his belief that forcing the subject quickly may hinder the recuperation. He tried to think of something else to talk about but it seemed his mind felt completely empty. Luckily, Tifa broke the uncomfortable silence.

"So, I hear that Marlene's doing well at school," Tifa said.

Barett immediately tried to keep the conversion flowing. "Yeah, her teacher's say that she is an exceptional student. She's getting good grades in all her subjects and is a popular girl at school."

Tifa smiled at Barett before responding. "Well her dad did help in saving the world… but I don't believe that's the only reason. A lot of the boys have taken a liking towards her and some have even asked her out on a date."

Barett eyes bulged out and instantly showed his concern. "What? Who? Tell me their names Tifa!!!

Tifa couldn't help but laugh at Barett. She couldn't believe how the big man was so overprotective of Marlene. "Relax Barett. What did you expect? Your little girl ain't so little anymore. She's growing into a beautiful young woman so surely enough you would expect boys to have an interest in her."

Barett thumped his hand on the table, causing the cups to slightly bounce up and down. "I know how boys are at that age Tifa. Raging hormones and what not… but if they think that they can get close to my little girl, then there is gonna be a lot of ass whooping."

Tifa laughed a little more. She really did know how to push his buttons to the limit. "Seriously Barett, lighten up man. She's only like thirteen years old and plus, like you said, she's a pretty smart girl."

"I know she is but I'm just lookin' out for her anyway." Barett said in frustration.

A few seconds of silence past and Barett still couldn't let the subject go. "So Tifa, are you gonna tell me the boy's names or am I gonna have to ask Marlene?" Barett asked while squinting suspiciously at her.

This time it was Tifa who flared up and thumped the table. Ironically, it caused the coffee cups to jump into the air, where Tifa's spilled onto the table, while Barett's cup spilled onto his lap.

Barett jumped up and frantically tried rubbing the hot liquid off himself. "Owwwwwww… shhiiiiiiiiiittttttt…"

Ignoring Barett's screams, Tifa got out of her chair and walked up to Barett, where she repeatedly poked Barett in the chest. "Don't you dare say anything to Marlene. She promised me not to say anything and now I understand why. She knew you would act all mucho and be like this and that's why she keeps things from you. I only told you because I thought you were capable of handling it… obviously I was wrong."

Finished with what she had to say, Tifa walked back to her seat and sat down. Barett sighed and resumed cleaning himself. When done, he also chose to sit back down on his seat, meeting the glaring crimson eyes from the other side of the table.

"Okay Tifa, you're right. It just I care about you guys so much." Barett looked down at the table, he felt ashamed of what he was about to ask, but he still had to know. "Just promise me one thing. Just promise me you'll look out for her as well."

Tifa frowned immediately. "Barett, that is the silliest thing you've ever said to see. Marlene is like a little sister to me, why the hell would you ask me that?"

Looking at Barett, Tifa could see that her scolding was having an effect on Barett. It wasn't the usual Barett, he seemed too glum and depressed. Realising what she had just said, Tifa knew she was a little insensitive with her choice of words. "I'm so sorry Barett… I didn't mean to snap at you…"

Tifa knew that even though people may know how others might feel about someone or something, it is always good to hear that person to confirm those feelings. "… and I promise I will always look out for Marlene."

Barett looked up and a smile crept on his face. He needed to know that god forbid something happened to him, that someone would guide Marlene into the right direction. For that reason, he was happy with Tifa's response.

They both sat there in silence just daydreaming of nothing in particular. A few minutes past and Barett was the first to break out of the state. He looked down at his pants and noticed the stain that had developed around his lap.

Tifa now broke out of her daydream and noticed Barett looking down at himself. "Ummm, it looks likes you made quite a mess on yourself."

Barett laughed before retaliating. "Me!! What are you talking about? You pounded the table like a psycho."

"Well Barett if you didn't start the thumping this wouldn't of happened. Tifa said, defending herself.

Barett laughed again to himself and decided to play along with the argument. "You know Tifa, they have group therapy for people with extreme rage."

"Well you know now that I think of it Barett, I think you better go see the doctor… because your head is way to abnormally big…" Tifa said smugly.

As they argued throughout the morning, they couldn't help but burst out laughing from time to time. Barett coming earlier really made the day go faster and it really did keep Tifa in high spirits from their morning chat.

Tifa never really thanked Barett for everything he'd done for her throughout her life, but she knew that Barett was aware of Tifa being grateful for him always being there for her. Tifa was really happy and thought that there was no one who could take that away from her. But, what Tifa didn't know was that something was coming to collide into her life and bring a change that was never expected.

**Later that night…**

The bar had now filled up what was now a regular late afternoon in Tifa's bar. Tifa was at the bar serving the usual patrons, while Barett was going around the bar collecting glasses and wiping down newly vacant booths and tables.

Tifa laughed at a joke told to her by a regular patron who seemed to be waving his hands around everywhere, dramatising his story as much as he could. It was funny to Tifa to see someone try so hard to captivate an audience by telling their story. It made Tifa think that if she were to write her life story, she'd have enough content to make a best seller right then and there.

After serving all her customers and satisfied that her customers won't need her anytime soon, Tifa called Barett over to take a seat next to her in front of the bar. Finally being able to sit down, Barett sighed heavily before looking up at Tifa with an exhausted smile on his face.

"Another busy day, eh Barett?" Tifa said, pointing out the obvious.

Barett rolled his eyes before replying back to Tifa. "I hate it when it's like this. You almost can't even find the time to go to the toilet."

Hearing Barett's words made Tifa sigh heavily. "I definitely know what you mean."

Suddenly, a group of men ran into the bar and up to a booth which was occupied by another group of people. Barett and Tifa frowned at each other questionably, curious to know the reason for the sudden rush from the group of people. Tifa saw that one man was saying something to a man sitting in the booth who's eyes bulged out before mouthing the words "are you serious" to the messenger. Looking at each other, they quickly grabbed their jackets, dashed to the door and left the bar.

Barett looked at Tifa and shrugged his shoulders. It seems the news the group received must have been important for them to leave in such a hurry.

Another minute past and sounds of people murmuring outside the bar were getting louder and louder. "What the fuck is going on outside?" Barett said before getting up from his seat and going to the door to see what all the commotion was about.

Standing in the middle of the doorway, he looked outside and saw people running down the street and pointing down the road. It puzzled Barett further because it wasn't panic the people were expressing but rather excitement, as though royalty was passing through the city.

Waiting patiently, he continued to keep his gaze down the road for the sudden intruder. A minute went by and Barett was getting frustrated now that there was still no appearance. 'Fuck this shit! Probably some wanker anyway,' Barett thought before turning around ready to go back inside.

Suddenly a woman shrieked and Barett immediately turned around to see the lady across the road jumping around frantically. "There he is! Our saviour has come back to us."

Barett immediately began to think. 'What? Saviour? Back to us?' Piecing the sentence together, he finally realised who it was. 'Oh shit! It's Cloud! Tifa ain't gonna be happy about this.'

He looked back down the road. The cheers were coming louder and closer with every second that passed. Then, in the distance, Barett could see the outline of a man mounted on a gold chocobo. People were running around the chocobo waving their hands in the air and screaming in excitement.

Hearing that the sounds from outside were getting louder, Tifa twirled around her seat and stood up. "Barett! What the hell is going on out there?" Tifa yelled, not exactly knowing if Barett was close by or not.

Realising that Tifa was talking to him, he left his gaze and returned back inside. He walked up to Tifa, not knowing how to break the news to her.

Tifa curiosity was growing and again repeated her question to Barett. "What's going on outside?"

Barett knew he had to tell her, but how to tell her, was another thing. "Well I'm not gonna lie to you Tifa." He took a deep breath and tried to tell Tifa as calmly as he could. "Cloud… is well… he's kinda here."

A tight pain immediately occurred in Tifa's chest, it was as if a someone was gripping her heart and squeezing the life out of her. This can't be true! This must be some cruel joke Barett was playing on her, probably for the coffee incident earlier, he's just finding a way to get her back.

"What do you mean Cloud is kinda here? Like what… outside?" Tifa asked hoping her thoughts were correct.

Barett looked at Tifa and nodded sympathetically. Tifa was finally making the effort to move on with her life after all these years because of the very man, and now he decides to come back and put it to pieces again. This was not something Barett thought Tifa could handle again.

Now realising that Barett was deadly serious, Tifa spun around facing the bar and held her a hand to her mouth. Tifa couldn't believe it, she was in total shock. 'Why would Cloud come back to Midgar? Why now?' Tifa thought to herself.

At the same time outside, Cloud finally arrived outside the bar. People were still cheering and acting erratically around him. He ignored everyone for that he was deeply focused on one goal. 'How am I going to talk to her? Would she even listen?' Cloud thought to himself.

He got off the chocobo and tied it to a wooden column on the small veranda, outside the bar. With nervous steps, he made his way to the front door and went inside. As he came inside, he was met with high gasps coming from patrons around the bar who were oblivious to his return.

Cloud looked around and locked his gaze onto the person that made him come to the city in the first place. Barett walked up to him, which Cloud could see that he was obviously fuming for his return.

"What are you doing here? Where the fuck have you been all this time?" Barett spat, with another hundred questions to follow up the two he already asked.

Cloud, who was totally unscathed from the words just spoken to him, brought his attention to Barett. He walked past him, slightly pushing him to the side to allow himself to get to his main objective. "Please Barett… not now." Cloud said calmly to his old friend.

Barett could only watch Cloud walk past him towards Tifa. He really didn't know what to do. He didn't know if stopping him was the right thing to do. What if Tifa did want to say something to her childhood friend who turned her life upside down? In the end Barett chose to step aside and see how things go, and if things got too rough, that's when he would interrupt.

With more nervous steps, Cloud continued his agonising walk. Seeing that Tifa was facing the bar, he stopped about a meter behind her and tried to think of how to talk to her.

Tifa, whose hands were at her side now, began clenching firmly. She didn't need to turn around to know who it was, she already sensed it. She could see it was Cloud Strife, she could smell that it was Cloud Strife, she could hear it was Cloud Strife, she could taste it was Cloud Strife, but most of all she could feel that he was behind her. All these years gave her the time to analyse everything about him, remember absolutely everything…

As Tifa's hands clenched firmer, Cloud decided it was now time to face his fears. He gathered his courage and spoke almost in a whisper. "Tifa?"

His voice was almost inaudible but it was enough for Tifa to hear. That voice… she waited so long to hear it before… she loved the sound of it… but now it was dead to her. All the voice did to her was fill her with an uncontrollable rage.

Still not turning to respond him, Cloud stood there deciding on his next course of action. He took a nervous step towards her and raised his hand to touch Tifa, desperate for her to respond. "Please Tifa, I need to talk to…"

His arm reached out and held onto her shoulder. This was enough to ignite Tifa. Her blood felt as if it were boiling, her hands were clenched and shaking violently, her breathing turned from normal to heavy which was simply trying to maximise her oxygen intake to match the angry pulses generating throughout her body.

Suddenly Tifa's mind snapped and Cloud did not have a chance to finish his sentence.…

Without warning, Cloud could only watch the wrath of his childhood friend. Tifa spun around, her eyes showing no sense of stableness. Her mind was consumed of rage.

Spinning around, she stepped forward, enabling herself to have maximum balance and weight towards her target. Swinging her arm in lightning speed, it made contact with exact precision and maximum damage…

CRACK

The blow hit Cloud just above his cheek, which in turn caused Cloud to lose his sense of balance and side step his way across the floor. The momentum of the punch was so extreme, it caused Cloud to uncontrollably topple over a table, bringing down the table, the glasses and three patrons who were all sitting there. His head hit the floor, giving him his final blow but allowing his body to come to a halt with a loud thud.

Everyone in the bar, including Barett, stared in shock at the event that had just occurred. Tifa still stood in the same spot, hand still raised and still shaking uncontrollably in rage.

Slowly averting her eyes to the crowd, she could see everyone was just staring at her. Regaining some of her thoughts back, she quickly ran into the kitchen and placed her hand to her mouth again in shock. She couldn't believe what she had just done. It was weird to Tifa, all that time fighting monsters along their journey, it did not make Tifa feel good in hurting them… yet after hitting Cloud… it was one of the most satisfying things she had ever done in her life.

Meanwhile, Barett brought back to his senses, walked up to where Cloud lay. The table was flipped onto its side with shattered glass and spilled drink all around it. The three fallen patrons slowly got up revealing that they were also affected by result of the blow and begun dusting themselves off. Seeing that Barett was approaching, the three men stopped cleaning up and moved to the side, not wanting to be involved in another mix up.

Barett looked down at the fallen hero and saw that he was unconscious and out for the night. It was funny to him, never did he expect that Cloud would lose a battle with someone, also with one blow and from Tifa Lockheart. Seeing that no serious damage was done to Cloud besides maybe a blinding headache tomorrow, Barett proceeded to walk to the back of the bar to see Tifa.

As he was walking, people were getting over the shock of the event and were now smirking and whispering things to each other.

It wasn't long until the whole bar filled with a roar of laughter with onlookers pointing and laughing at Cloud. "Did you see that? He went down with one blow." A man said to another while elbowing him in the ribs.

"Our hero. The undefeatable… knocked out by a girl. Hehehe…" Another man shouted.

Before Barett could check up on Tifa, the laughter of the crowd had struck a nerve in him. Yes Cloud deserved it, but for everyone to laugh at this incident was just not on. Cloud did hurt Tifa, but Barett still respected him in the sense that he had a huge hand in saving the world, without him they would have never been able to do it. Barett could only do what he needed to do for an old comrade, and that was to defend him.

Walking back to where Cloud lay, he put his gun arm into the air and fired a few rounds into the ceiling. "SHUT THE HELL UP! THE NEXT PERSON WHO TALKS IS GONNA GET TWENTY ROUNDS PUMPED INTO THEM!"

Noticing that the arm was pointed at the crowd, everyone silenced themselves almost immediately. Happy with the result, Barett spoke in a more calmly manner. "Now, the bar is closed early tonight so I want everyone outer here, right now."

To Barett's surprise, everyone started moving towards the door in silence and exited the bar where they joined the crowd outside, who also witnessed some of the event and were gossiping to each other. Once everyone was out he locked the doors and went to the back to see Tifa.

Arriving in the kitchen, Barett could see Tifa was still in shock of what had just happened. Getting closer, he could see that she was still breathing heavily and lost in thought. What was he going to say to her? He couldn't say things were going to be alright because obviously things weren't. All he could do was stand there and wait for Tifa to talk to him

Feeling another presence beside her, Tifa snapped back to reality. Knowing that Cloud was still close by gave Tifa the urge to be sick. Seeing that Barett was here, she gave him an order. "Barett, I want you get that trash out of my bar."

Surprised with what Tifa had to say, Barett was immediate with answering. "Huh? But…" Barett was a loss for words for a few seconds, before finally continuing, "…where am I gonna put him?"

Why does he have to ask questions instead of just doing what he's told? With the anger still brewing deep within her body, Barett's words instantly struck another nerve. "I DON'T CARE BARRET! THROW HIM INTO THE STREET FOR ALL I CARE! JUST GET HIM OUT OF MY BAR!"

Scared for his own safety, Barett turned and quickly bolted out of the kitchen without another word, returning to where Cloud lay in a heap. 'I definitely need to enrol her in a rage therapy class,' Barett thought to himself.

Carefully with his non-mechanical arm, Barett grabbed Cloud from around the waist and lugged him onto his shoulder. Luckily, Cloud had decided to leave his sword strapped to the chocobo, else this would have been far more difficult task for Barett to do.

Walking to the door and opening it, Barett was met with stares and gasps of the crowd still hanging around outside the bar. With no other choice, he made his way down the steps and walked through the crowd who were quick to make way for Barett to walk through.

Much to his annoyance, he could hear the crowd whispering things to each other. Barett picked up his pace, hoping that he could leave the main crowd behind and get Cloud to somewhere safe.

Finally walking past the main crowd, Barett breathed a sigh of relief. This was not something he thought he was expecting to do when waking up this morning.

Along the way to his destination which was only a few blocks away, he did encounter onlookers who were staring and gasping, but Barett would quickly counter their gaze by looking provokingly towards their direction, which caused the people to quickly gaze at the floor.

Arriving at the front door of his house, Barett had difficulty getting the house keys out of his pocket and opening the door. After a few attempts, Barett was rewarded with a click sound, confirming that the door was unlocked. Stumbling through the darkness of the room, he made his way to the light switch. 'Damn Marlene. Out of all nights you decide to sleep over a friend's house, why did it have to be tonight?' Barett thought to himself.

Turning on the light, he continued down the hallway until he reached the spare room that Tifa would sometimes occupy. Opening the door and clicking on the light, he quickly stumbled to the bed and dropped Cloud onto the bed. Groaning and rubbing his shoulder, it was a relief the added weight on his shoulder had finally been removed.

Barett flipped Cloud over onto his back and took off his shoes. He couldn't believe he had to be the Dad for everyone. He looked at Cloud's face and noticed that the side of his face had indeed swelled up and a darkness of skin was revealed around his eye, confirming he was going to have a black eye by tomorrow. This brought a smile to the big man's lips who was trying his best to control himself from laughing.

Satisfied with delivering Cloud to a place to rest, he turned and made his way to the door. Reaching the door, he turned and said something to his unconscious old friend. "You're the biggest friggin idiot Cloud… but…," he turned again and placed his hand on the switch, "… it's good to have you back buddy. We've missed ya..."

And with that, he turned off the light and closed the door behind him.

**Author's Note:** Oh man, poor Barett. He keeps getting shit from Tifa. Oh well. A bit of delay putting this chapter up. I'm back at uni so it's rather difficult to find the time to write. Actually, I've done all this late at night so I hope you guys can understand if any errors in my writing.

**Next Chapter:** The continuation of this one... Another flashback and Cloud gets to say his second sentence to Tifa. Will he be met by another matching black eye? Please review and tell me what you think.


	4. Chapter 4 Hurtful Times

**Chapter 4 – Hurtful Times**

Authors Note: Wow. It has truly been a long time for updating this story. Sorry guys and thank you so much for the reviews. If it wasn't for your support, I don't think I would have urged myself to finish this chapter. Thanks again to everyone for the reviews.

**Later that night…**

Tifa was home and was thankful that she had survived the intense gazes from the city people along the streets of Midgar. It seemed that there was nobody left in Midgar who didn't know of the incident that happened earlier. Who were they to stare and pass judgement on her? They don't even know the whole friggin story behind the reason for the incident that occurred at the bar.

It frustrated Tifa that people were so quick to pass judgement over things that may not even concern them. Sure Cloud was a hero for having a large hand in saving the world, but that doesn't necessarily mean he is a great person overall. If only they could see who Cloud really was… a lying bastard who couldn't even hold a promise to his childhood friend, no actually, they were far more than that and he knew it.

Lying in bed with her hands behind her head, Tifa gazed into the darkness of her room. It was a good way to sum up Tifa's life so far, a life of darkness. Why couldn't she have been blessed with an easier life? She wanted everything as much as any other girl wanted out of life… loving parents, comfortable living, a great job, money, success… yet, these things could not compare to what Tifa really wanted. Tifa never doubted that love was complicated, but to endure the pain of love she experienced had been overbearing for far too many years. Why couldn't she forget? Why was Cloud the only man she could ever love? What made him so goddamn special? As much as she thought about it, she assumed she didn't know any of the answers… or rather she believed she didn't care in knowing the answers. But deep down, Tifa knew it was either Cloud or nobody at all… and for how her heart felt at the moment, she definitely preferred the latter choice.

As memories came flooding back into her mind, she was once again brought back to the event that has been constant in her mind for over five years. It was that day, the day Cloud left, that made her world crumble around her. The day he made quite clear that Tifa was not worth a thing to him… or so Tifa thought.

** Flashback>> **

It had been two months since the intimate kiss that Cloud and Tifa shared and things had really changed since then. Cloud had distanced himself from her almost to the point where Tifa would barely see him anymore. At first she thought that maybe Cloud was a little shy about the kiss and needed some time too get over it, but as the weeks went by, Tifa began to worry. What if Cloud thought it was a mistake? 'No,' she thought. There was something there, he must have felt it.

Today felt the same as any other day now, seeing Cloud was a scarce event and it would only happen by chance. He was always out by morning and late coming home so it was hard to catch Cloud at a good time to talk. Even if she did so, the conversation was kept at a minimum where Cloud would try to find a way out so he could leave. This puzzled Tifa and really made her curious to know where he would go all the time.

She had followed Cloud, a number of times, but it was always the same. He would be under a tree on the plains outside town or up in the mountains sitting near a cliff, just sitting and staring, completely oblivious and in a world of his own. She never did go to him and see how he was for the fact that she thought that he just wanted time to himself.

This hadn't bothered her at first but Tifa didn't expect it to go for this long. Cloud was hardly around and she had missed his company dearly. Snapping out of her thoughts and convincing herself that Cloud will tell her when he was ready, Tifa noticed she had been sitting in the shed for over an hour. She had only come in there for wood for the fireplace, but again she seemed to get sidetracked and lose herself in thoughts. This wasn't her job anyway, Cloud used to bring the wood over every night but ever since his late night strolls, it's been Tifa's job to chop, store and gather the wood.

Grabbing a large portion of wood into her arms, Tifa went back to the house and placed half of the portion of wood in her arms next to the fireplace. The other half she would take over to Cloud's house and leave it next to the door, her real motive being that she hoped that Cloud would be home so they could hang out. As Tifa went next door expecting a dark empty house, she was surprised to see that a light was on in the house. Seeing as she barely sees Cloud anymore, she thought he may be willing to talk or hang out.

Juggling the wood in her arms, she managed to open the door with one hand while holding the bundle of wood with her other arm. Peering inside, Tifa could see Cloud down the hall packing things into a backpack on the floor. Tifa took a few steps inside until curiosity got the better of her and she stopped to ask him what was going on. "Cloud I brought over some wood over for you since it has been colder these last few days…" Tifa trailed off her sentence with a confused expression, but before she could think, she unconsciously found herself asking Cloud a question. "Ummm, what are you doing?"

Glancing up at Tifa, Cloud took a deep breath before looking back down. He had really hoped he didn't have to face Tifa. "What's it look like I'm doing? I'm leaving."

'What?' Tifa's mind raced. Hopeful that Cloud only meant leaving for a short while, her mind had already gone into panic state. "What do you mean, as in leaving for a few days?"

Cloud shook his head calmly before answering, "No. I can't stay in this town, too many bad memories. I'm leaving for good."

As soon as Tifa heard her fears confirmed, her body became numb and limp. The wood she held made several loud thuds as they made contact with the floor. Not looking at Tifa, Cloud sighed and continued to pack the last of his possessions into his backpack.

An uncomfortable silence grew between them as all Tifa could do is just stare bewildered by Cloud's words. When he finally finished packing, he managed to gather the courage to look at Tifa. He could see that Tifa was shocked as well as upset, but it was Tifa who broke the silence between them. "Well fine then, I'm coming too!"

Almost immediately, Cloud forbid Tifa from coming with him. "No, you can't come. I need to do this on my own."

A sharp piercing feeling swept through her body as Cloud brought these words upon her. She gazed at the floor as tears began forming and dropping next to her feet. Tifa didn't understand why he was acting so cold to her. Why did he change from that kiss? Tifa didn't understand but she still needed to know where she stood in Cloud's life. Still looking down, Tifa asked in a soft gentle whisper, "What about us Cloud? What happened a few weeks ago?" This time she looked up at him, tears still falling uncontrollably down her face. "Did that kiss mean nothing to you?"

Cloud couldn't respond. He wanted to tell her it was something he would never forget. He wanted to tell her that it was wonderful. He wanted to tell her it's the only thing that's been on his mind for since it happened. But he couldn't tell her for it would make things even harder for him. "I'm sorry about that Tifa, it was a mistake."

Tifa took a step back in shock, she had to steady herself as her legs almost gave way. "A mistake?" Her mind began to scream, 'No, No, No, the bastard is lying.' "No! That's bullshit Cloud, you felt something." Tifa knew she was losing the battle, she could see it in Cloud's eyes. Yet she still continued again in the cracked soft voice as before, "… you must have felt something."

She continued to stare at Cloud waiting for some sort of explanation, but instead Cloud just averted his eyes away from Tifa and stared at the floor to the side of him. Tifa didn't know what to do, but she knew she had to think of something fast. There wasn't really anything she could do but maybe prove Cloud wrong.

They stood like this for a few minutes. Tifa continued to stare for answers and Cloud continued to look at the floor, not knowing what the hell to do. Tifa stood waiting, waiting, waiting… finally it came to the point where she could not wait any longer. Taking a deep breath, Tifa gathered all the courage she possibly had that moment and slowly walked up to Cloud until she was only an arm's length away from him. "Look at me Cloud." He continued to look away. Tifa tried again but this time in another softer tone, "Please look at me." Cloud couldn't resist that soft voice, as his head slowly turned to meet face-to-face with Tifa's, it happened just as he suspected, an immediate feeling of guilt and pain stung his heart as he saw Tifa's eyes all red and with tears still forming within them. Yet even so, he still could not get over how beautiful she is. Slowly her arms circled around his neck and her face slowly came closer and closer to Cloud's. Her lips tenderly touched his with a kiss that had as much desperation as it did for desire. Her eyes searched deeply into green mako eyes pleading for some sort of emotion to show. Instead, his eyes stared back at her emotionless which made Tifa even more determined to unlock the Strife's heart. She couldn't lose him, not after everything they had been through, not now god damn it! Tifa closed her eyes and deepened the kiss. Her arms tensed and she brought Cloud closer to her until their bodies pressed against each other. Gently, she forced her tongue into Cloud's mouth and flicked her tongue across his which seemed to create an even more desirable spark every time she did so. 'Mistake! I'll show him if it was a mis…," Tifa didn't finish her thought. Her breathing had become heavy and her mind full of passion. But it was not only Tifa who was losing herself in the moment, Cloud's mind had finally succumbed to that of Tifa's overwhelming dominance. He found that his hands unwillingly found themselves on the now exposed groove of Tifa's hips. Her skin was so soft to touch, it felt so smooth and delicate. This was something he had dreamt of ever since he was a little boy… to have Tifa Lockhart. Was he really going to give in for his own selfish reasons? The whole point he was leaving was for her but… why did she have to make it so damn hard for him?

Half his mind was battling the debate over if he was doing the right thing and the other was there lost in thought with Tifa. His hands had now encircled around Tifa's waist and brought her even closer to the point where practically he was nearly lifting her up to him. Cloud was now taking control as his tongue found its way into Tifa's mouth now, where it circled and massaged her tongue in a rhythmic movement. Slowly, bit by bit, Cloud was losing himself into Tifa. He couldn't believe how wonderful something could be in his arms. Just the same as their first kiss, they were now breathing erratically and passion was consuming them both.

Tifa didn't want this to end. She would even go further than just kissing with him, but not to make him to stay, but for the fact she loved him. She loved him so much. There was really no one else she would spend her life with other than Cloud.

Suddenly, without thinking, Tifa whispered something to Cloud between kisses, which she had wanted to say to Cloud for the longest time. "I love you so much…"

That's all it took for Cloud's eyes to spring open again. He now knew that this was going to be a lot messier than what he first thought it was going to be. His lips had become motionless and shut tight, which Tifa who was still lost in the passion was still trying to access. It wasn't until Cloud raised his arms and slowly unhooked Tifa's arms from around his neck that Tifa realised that something was wrong.

They stared again in silence again before Tifa spoke in a soft voice. "What's wrong Cloud?"

Cloud didn't say anything, there was nothing he could say that would make this any less hurtful. So instead of saying any comforting words, Cloud chose to say nothing. He looked beside him and picked up his backpack and walked past Tifa.

Tifa, who was wide eyed in shock and disbelief of Cloud's behaviour, couldn't believe how Cloud was acting at the moment. Realising that Cloud was just going to walk out of her life without a word, Tifa immediately spun around and grabbed Cloud's arm, restricting him from walking away.

"Please Cloud, don't go. If it's what I said a few moments ago, I swear I'll never say it again," Tifa pleaded as tears were trickling down her face uncontrollably. Cloud couldn't take it. He tried yanking his arm away but Tifa held strong. This was too hard for Tifa, Cloud was the only person left in her life and losing him… after everything they had been through… it just couldn't be possible.

With Cloud still trying to set his arm free, Tifa pleaded through teary red eyes again to Cloud to reconsider his decision. "Please Cloud, I don't want you to go.

With a final hard yank of his arm, Cloud finally managed to pull his arm away from Tifa's grip. Losing all weight from her legs, Tifa fell onto her knees and held her hands over her face crying. Cloud didn't like seeing her like this, but he had to let her know. Taking a step forward and putting one hand on her shoulder, Cloud spoke very softly. "I'm sorry Tifa but I can't do this right now."

Knowing that no words could comfort Tifa or even explain his actions, Cloud turned once again and walked towards the door.

Tifa who was still on the floor, looked up at Cloud walking away. In a barely audible voice she whispered, "You promised." Realising that Cloud had not heard her, she yelled it again to Cloud who was only meters away from the door. "You promised!"

Upon hearing this, Cloud froze in his place and continued to stare at the door. He wasn't silly enough to not realise what Tifa was talking about but he knew he would be reminded of it any moment. For Tifa, she knew this was her last stab at keeping Cloud, even though her mind told her that there was no point, it was her heart that did not want to accept defeat.

Still looking at Cloud through now bloodshot eyes, Tifa continued talking in desperation for Cloud to change his mind. "You promised me Cloud. You promised me that whenever I need you, you would be close by…" Tifa trailed off and looked at the ground before continuing. "I need you now Cloud…"

With fresh new tears pouring down her face, Tifa knew it was now up to Cloud to make his decision. Cloud turned around to face Tifa, who also looked up at him. Still crying, Tifa stared at Cloud waiting for his decision. She was hoping Cloud was going to tell her that he wasn't going anywhere, that he would stay with her because she was his best friend… Instead Cloud gave his decision in the simplest way he knew, "I'm sorry Tifa."

Tifa stared in shock, her mouth open but unable to respond. Her throat felt choked and all she could do was watch Cloud leave from her life forever. Turning and walking to the door, he again heard Tifa pleading for him to stay. "I want you stay Cloud, please don't leave me…" This time Cloud did not respond and opened the door. Halfway out the door he heard Tifa again scream out his name. "Cloud!"

Without a response, Tifa screamed his name again even louder. "Cloud!" Cloud ignored her plea again closed the door behind him. He stood there for a few seconds before closing his eyes. Suddenly a loud screeching and painful scream came from inside the house "CLOUD!" Startled, Cloud reopened his eyes in shock. Never in his entire life had he heard Tifa scream so loud and with so much hurt. It wasn't very long until Cloud heard Tifa sobbing loudly from the house.

It hurt Cloud so much to leave Tifa like this, but in the end knew it was best for Tifa's sake. Even so, his defences had given up on him and now it was him who found tears forming in his eyes. "I'm so sorry Tifa… but everyone who I care about end up being taken away from me. I can't let that happen to you."

Accepting his own decision, Cloud walked towards the barn and grabbed his golden chocobo. He led it out and then mounted himself on top of it. Looking back at the house, he again expressed his sorrow. "I'm so sorry…" Wiping away tears, Cloud urged the chocobo on and finally left Nibelheim.

With her final battle lost, Tifa believed that the war to win Cloud's heart was now over. She had lost. Tifa wrapped her arms around her knees and sobbed uncontrollably into them. It was this day that soon became a heart breaking, reoccurring, recollecting memory.

** End Flashback>> **

Opening her eyes, Tifa found herself again in the darkness of her room. Even though she said that she would not let this memory get to her, Tifa turned onto her side and cried herself to sleep.

**Authors Note**: Okay I know this chapter seems a bit rushed but I had written half of this last year and the other half this year. I hope there aren't too many conflictions with the rest of the story. Oh and I'm sad to see that Hybrid Rainbow's story of "Things Unsaid" is gone. For those of us lucky to read it, it was truly a great story.

**Next Chapter:** Cloud gets to say his second sentence to Tifa. Will he be met by another matching black eye? Please review and tell me what you think.


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